sir?”
“That’s none of your business, and if you put pictures of me on the air, I’ll sue the station.”
Pete quit watching while he tried to get the rabbit’s foot unstuck from his teeth. Suddenly he realized the voices were getting louder. Hogman was coming toward the truck. If I’m going to take evidence, Pete thought, I need to take it now. With the rabbit’s foot still hanging from the side of his mouth, he grabbed the invoice in his teeth, then jumped off the seat just as Hogman and the other man reached the two doors.
Pete dashed between Hogman’s legs, his tail streaming out behind him. He hoped the cameraman was filming his daring escape
.
“What was that?” the brother said. “An animal jumped out of your truck!”
“That fool cat was here again,” Hogman said. Both men got in and slammed the doors. “He must belong to one of the kids or the old lady.”
Keeping one hand in front of his face in case the camera pointed his way, Hogman yelled out the window: “I’ll be back!” he shouted. To his brother, he added, “And next time I’ll be armed!”
Pete ran into the woods behind Alex’s house, then put the invoice in a thick clump of ferns where the wind couldn’t blow it away. He didn’t watch Hogman drive off; he didn’t watch the TV people leave, either. He was too busy pawing at the rabbit’s foot that was stuck in his mouth.
He pushed at it with his pink tongue. Yuck! He didn’t like the taste, and he didn’t want to cough up a hair ball made of rabbit fur. When the rabbit’s foot finally came loose, he laid it on top of the invoice.
Then he took a complete cat bath, licking his shoulders and washing his face. Grooming himself calmed him. When he finished, he crept back to Mary’s yard. The pig was asleep in her pen; Alex and the others had left.
Pete didn’t want to put the rabbit’s foot in his mouth again in order to carry it home. Too many pieces of fur had stuck to his tongue the first time.
He decided to leave the evidence where it was, and try to get Alex to follow him. If he howled loudly enough and acted distressed, Alex should get the hint and go see what Pete wanted to show him.
I’ll sit on the steps and caterwaul, Pete decided, and when Alex opens the door, I’ll run toward the clump of ferns.
• • •
Bick Badgerton drove his brother, Ram, to the gas station where Ram worked.
“I’ll be off work at seven,” Ram said. “If you want me to go back up there with you to get the pig, I can do it then.”
“I’ll have the pig long before seven,” Bick said. “The slaughterhouse closes at six. As soon as I take this box of pelts to Ned, I’ll go back and get the pig. By then that TV crew will be gone. I can’t believe those kids got a reporter to drive all the way out there to take pictures of my pig.”
“Maybe you ought to keep that pig,” Ram said. “If she gets famous enough, you can sell pictures of her.”
Bick looked at his brother as if he’d suddenly started speaking Chinese. “You’re crazy,” he said. “Who’d buy pictures of my pig?”
“She was already on the news once,” Ram said, “and maybe she’ll be on again today. I wouldn’t want you to miss a chance for some easy money. A guy I heard about got two hundred dollars from one of the networks for a home video he took.”
“Of a pig?”
“No, of Mount Saint Helens blowing its top.”
“A volcano erupting is not the same as my pig lying in the dirt.”
Ram shrugged. “You never know what’s going to catch the public’s attention,” he said. “There are a lot of animal lovers out there. Maybe the pig will be a celebrity. You can make a pig Web page and sell hoofprints.” He got out, then as Bick drove off, he called, “W-w-w dot p-i-g dot com!”
Don’t listen to him, Bick told himself. Ram always had some get-rich-quick scheme, and not one of them had ever panned out. I shouldn’t have involved him in the firstplace. I have a ramp for the
“That’s none of your business, and if you put pictures of me on the air, I’ll sue the station.”
Pete quit watching while he tried to get the rabbit’s foot unstuck from his teeth. Suddenly he realized the voices were getting louder. Hogman was coming toward the truck. If I’m going to take evidence, Pete thought, I need to take it now. With the rabbit’s foot still hanging from the side of his mouth, he grabbed the invoice in his teeth, then jumped off the seat just as Hogman and the other man reached the two doors.
Pete dashed between Hogman’s legs, his tail streaming out behind him. He hoped the cameraman was filming his daring escape
.
“What was that?” the brother said. “An animal jumped out of your truck!”
“That fool cat was here again,” Hogman said. Both men got in and slammed the doors. “He must belong to one of the kids or the old lady.”
Keeping one hand in front of his face in case the camera pointed his way, Hogman yelled out the window: “I’ll be back!” he shouted. To his brother, he added, “And next time I’ll be armed!”
Pete ran into the woods behind Alex’s house, then put the invoice in a thick clump of ferns where the wind couldn’t blow it away. He didn’t watch Hogman drive off; he didn’t watch the TV people leave, either. He was too busy pawing at the rabbit’s foot that was stuck in his mouth.
He pushed at it with his pink tongue. Yuck! He didn’t like the taste, and he didn’t want to cough up a hair ball made of rabbit fur. When the rabbit’s foot finally came loose, he laid it on top of the invoice.
Then he took a complete cat bath, licking his shoulders and washing his face. Grooming himself calmed him. When he finished, he crept back to Mary’s yard. The pig was asleep in her pen; Alex and the others had left.
Pete didn’t want to put the rabbit’s foot in his mouth again in order to carry it home. Too many pieces of fur had stuck to his tongue the first time.
He decided to leave the evidence where it was, and try to get Alex to follow him. If he howled loudly enough and acted distressed, Alex should get the hint and go see what Pete wanted to show him.
I’ll sit on the steps and caterwaul, Pete decided, and when Alex opens the door, I’ll run toward the clump of ferns.
• • •
Bick Badgerton drove his brother, Ram, to the gas station where Ram worked.
“I’ll be off work at seven,” Ram said. “If you want me to go back up there with you to get the pig, I can do it then.”
“I’ll have the pig long before seven,” Bick said. “The slaughterhouse closes at six. As soon as I take this box of pelts to Ned, I’ll go back and get the pig. By then that TV crew will be gone. I can’t believe those kids got a reporter to drive all the way out there to take pictures of my pig.”
“Maybe you ought to keep that pig,” Ram said. “If she gets famous enough, you can sell pictures of her.”
Bick looked at his brother as if he’d suddenly started speaking Chinese. “You’re crazy,” he said. “Who’d buy pictures of my pig?”
“She was already on the news once,” Ram said, “and maybe she’ll be on again today. I wouldn’t want you to miss a chance for some easy money. A guy I heard about got two hundred dollars from one of the networks for a home video he took.”
“Of a pig?”
“No, of Mount Saint Helens blowing its top.”
“A volcano erupting is not the same as my pig lying in the dirt.”
Ram shrugged. “You never know what’s going to catch the public’s attention,” he said. “There are a lot of animal lovers out there. Maybe the pig will be a celebrity. You can make a pig Web page and sell hoofprints.” He got out, then as Bick drove off, he called, “W-w-w dot p-i-g dot com!”
Don’t listen to him, Bick told himself. Ram always had some get-rich-quick scheme, and not one of them had ever panned out. I shouldn’t have involved him in the firstplace. I have a ramp for the
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